Not pale, male and stale: the push to get women into transport

Ronald MizenSenior reporter

Mar 7, 2022 – 2.11pm

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Transport is viewed as pale, male and stale and is largely disregarded by crops of university graduates, but with widespread skills shortages and a retirement cliff looming, industry leaders know they have a problem.

A group of high-powered female executives is looking to change that with an initiative launched ahead of International Women’s Day on Tuesday to showcase women in transport and upend negative perceptions of the sector.

Infrastructure Australia boss Romilly Madew is pushing for more women workers in the transport sector. Renee Nowytarger

“You only know what you see, right?” said Rebecca Hanley, group director of strategy and transformation at global construction giant Laing O’Rourke, which oversees major road and rail transport projects globally.

Infrastructure Australia boss Romilly Madew, who is also part of the initiative, last year revealed there would probably be a shortfall of 105,000 workers by mid-2023 for major infrastructure projects, including many in transport.

The post-pandemic recovery has also revealed a dearth of workers across a range of transport sub-sectors, and almost 20 per cent of transport businesses report a need for skilled workers, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

A lack of drivers has been blamed for backlogs in Australia’s 22.4 billion tonne a year road transport sector, while mining companies have also cited a lack of drivers for production downgrades. The issue is expected to intensify as the current pool of mostly male workers reaches retirement age.

Ms Hanley and Ms Madew are among a coterie of female executives involved in the initiative, which also includes NSW Ports boss Marika Calfas, Metro Trains chief operating officer Catherine Baxter and National Transport Commission chief executive Gillian Miles.

More than ‘truckies and storemen’

Women make up about 27.4 per cent of workers in transport, postal and warehousing, and falls to about 20 per cent for land transport alone. Only 4.5 per cent of transport CEOs are women and the pay gap of more than 16 per cent is above the average gap of 14 per cent.

“Australia is experiencing an infrastructure and transport investment boom and needs people with the skills to deliver it. If we’re not ensuring women are part of the transport industry, and comfortable in it, we have an economic problem as well as a social one,” Ms Miles said.

Ms Hanley said perception was a significant barrier to attracting new talent. She stressed transport was more than truckies and storemen, and the industry needed smart outsiders with a diversity of skills to help the industry evolve with the times and technologies, and boost productivity.

She said the current level of work was an opportunity to be more productive, provide a more fulfilling career track for a more diverse workforce and embrace more innovative forms of thinking.

“If we expand the talent pool to include females – and not just women, but more diverse thinkers – that starts to challenge the status quo ... and perhaps injects a bit of new energy into how we might tackle these demand issues.”

But the task will be challenging, and other traditionally male-dominated sectors also facing worker shortages, including mining and utilities, are singing the same tune.

Mining giant BHP last year said it expected 40 per cent of its workforce to be female in 2025, in a disclosure that implied more rapid growth in its female ranks. The number of women working for the Western Australia-based miner has increased from 17 per cent in 2016 to almost 30 per cent last year.

Ronald Mizen reports on politics, economics, business and the law, with a focus on corporate regulators, lobbyists and investigations from Parliament House, Canberra. Connect with Ronald on Twitter. Email Ronald at ronald.mizen@afr.com